County board approves Lake George beach area upgrades

The popular Lake George Regional Park will be getting several upgrades, including a larger swimming beach.

There were 251,000 visits to Lake George Regional Park in Oak Grove last year. Anoka County will be doing some park improvements in the coming weeks to expand the beach area and renovate the beach wall. File photo by Kelly Johnson

The Anoka County Board Aug. 14 unanimously approved awarded a contract totaling $223,398.84 to Ebert, Inc. of Corcoran to make these improvements.

According to Anoka County Parks Director John VonDeLinde, the public beach will be expanding 100 feet to the west and seven to 10 feet toward the lake. The other beach owned by the YMCA will not be touched.

The more than 15-year-old beach wall that people sit on will be repaired. VonDeLinde said the new Keystone block modular wall will be seven to 10 feet farther inland than the old wall, which increases the size of the beach. The new wall will be 18 inches high and 550 lineal feet long. The soils under the wall will also be reinforced with sturdier material to increase the life span of the new wall.

Trails around the beach area will be reconfigured and the volleyball court will be moved to the north, but still be at the park, VonDeLinde said. There will be numerous tree planting, vegetation and irrigation improvements as well.

VonDeLinde said Lake George Regional Park has one of the most popular beaches in the metropolitan area.

He said it is not uncommon to see 500 to 1,000 people there on a busy summer day. Last year, 251,000 people visited the park. He anticipates a higher number this year due to a very warm June and July, VonDeLinde said.

“It’s a great improvement for a park that’s well utilized,” said County Commissioner Matt Look, who now represents this area of Oak Grove after district boundaries were re-drawn earlier this year.

According to VonDeLinde, this project will be entirely funded by a grant from the state’s Clean Water, Land and Legacy program that was created by the constitutional amendment voters approved.

Work will be starting very shortly. It should take four to six weeks to complete and thus be done by this fall, VonDeLinde said.